Window cleaner with degree in classical studies and literature. Studying towards a Masters in Information Management.

Started Chess

Learnt chess when I was 7 from my dad and grandad. Played friends, family etc. Later ran an online league with 20 members, organising daily tournaments. Joined D&H 2 years ago in time to play last 3 games of the season.

New members

Whether you're just starting out or a Grandmaster, Darnall & Handsworth Chess Club is a warm place to learn more about chess. Please feel free to contact us or to drop by on Monday evenings (not bank holidays), 7.30pm. We look forward to welcoming you! Your first three club nights are free, with no obligation to become a member.

If you would like further information on the club, or wish to join, please contact either:

Car Parking

Car parking is available at the playing venue.

Refreshments

We provide tea, coffee and an excellent selection of beers.

How to find us

By Car

Leave the M1 at junction 33 and head towards Sheffield along the A630. Take the second turn-off and turn left at the roundabout onto the B6200 to Handsworth. Asda supermarket will be on your right. Turn right at the lights after Asda, but before Aldi, onto Richmond Park Road. Travel to the end and turn right again, this time onto Richmond Road. After 500 metres the road rises slightly. The left turn into Stradbroke Primary School and Community Centre is immediately prior to a pelican crossing halfway up the rise.

From Sheffield centre, head for M1 motorway along the A57 / A630 Sheffield Parkway. Turn right towards Handsworth on the B6200 and follow the above directions from there.

By Bus

The number 40 bus stops outside the Community Centre. Services depart from Eyre Street/Moor Market and call at the Sheffield Interchange before heading to Stradbroke. The services are half hourly and the bus that leaves the Interchange at 08.58* should arrive at the playing venue around 09.20*.
Services 24 (First) and 25 (Stagecoach) leave Arundel Gate in Sheffield approximately every ten minutes. Both services stop about 200 metres from the playing venue. Aim for the 08.57*, 09.07* or 09.19* departures.

* Based on the timetable valid from 15th May 2016

Darnall and Handsworth Chess Club was formed amongst a handful of friends back in August 1985. We started out at the aptly named King's Head pub in Darnall, fielding a single team in the Sheffield and District Chess Association's fourth division. Rapid progression up the division saw the club reach the first division by 1988. A similarly rapid expansion in membership meant that the club was able to run a second and third team in the same league. At its height, the chess club had about thirty members.

By early 2000, times changed and the club was reduced to about a dozen members due to players moving on, such as Matthew Cooper. He was an early club member and is currently working in Dubai. The club just had a single team and started yo-yoing between two divisions. The club also changed venue to Darnall Liberal Club and a few years back to Handsworth Working Men's Club. A second place division three 2014/15 season will see the club play in division two.

Coinciding with a new change of venue to Stradbroke Community Centre, the club celebrated its 30th anniversary with a match of 'Past and Present' players against a 'Rest of the World' side, over thirty boards. The event organisers searched for ex-players to invite. In total, about eighty players have played for the club in the last thirty years. The international theme of the anniversary was not restricted to the 'Rest of the World' side. Tomas Plachetka used to play for us in 1993 whilst he was a post-graduate student at Sheffield Hallam University. He flew in from Slovakia especially for the event. Another overseas player who is now playing for us is Aram Ter-Gevorkian. He is originally from Armenia and recently moved to Sheffield from Greece.

Due to the successful celebrations Darnall and Handsworth Chess Club is gradually building up new members again and is fielding two teams in the Sheffield and District League. We have also just beaten Chesterfield A team, who won the Richardson Cup last season. If you would like to get involved with our club, please feel free to contact Geoff Brown.

Bulletins

Frank Hayes (2/4/1928 - 25/1/2008)
Frank Hayes joined Darnall & Handsworth Chess Club in 1992, when we were playing at The King’s Head in Darnall. For a long time he and several friends had been playing chess socially a short distance away at Darnall Liberal Club. Frank’s arrival just about coincided with vacancies in our second team and he became a regular member of it. Frank was always ready to play anybody, whether for one of the teams or just for fun at the club. He hardly ever refused a request to represent the club, so had been a Darnall & Handsworth stalwart for fifteen years. Selecting teams will be more difficult from now on.

A few years ago, when The King’s Head became unsuitable as a venue, it was Frank who suggested approaching Darnall Liberal Club, and it was his good offices that sealed the arrangement. We were very glad to find a perfect venue – it being both free and very quiet.

In his working life Frank was first employed in a surface job at a local coal mine, later moving on to work for Cravens as a carpenter. His final job was for Davys. The funeral, and the large attendance at it, testified to his much-loved status both within his family and amongst his friends. Clearly it won’t be just our chess club that will miss Frank’s cheery presence.

Frank’s funeral had an emotional finish – the timeless voice of Nat ‘King’ Cole singing ‘Smile’. A very good choice and presumably one made by Frank himself. Frank, if that was your final advice to us, then we’ll give it our best shot!

If anybody has any corrections or more information to add, especially a photograph, I would be pleased to hear from him or her.